Fat continuous and very low fat spreads have been described in the literature. Two approaches have been followed to produce the low fat and very low fat spreads. One approach is to cool the fat continuous (water-in-oil) premix and produce a fat continuous (water-in-oil) spread. For spreads with less than 40% fat and in particular less than 30% fat, the level and type of emulsifiers are optimized to produce the fat continuous product. At these levels of emulsifiers, the quality of the product is poor due to higher stability of the emulsions which are difficult to invert in the mouth, affecting the salt and flavor release. Any attempts to destabilize the emulsion with destabilizing agents such as proteins, results in a water continuous premix and cannot be processed using conventional spread processes.
The second approach is to prepare a water continuous premix (oil-in-water) which in the presence of gelling agents is inverted to a fat continuous product (water-in-oil). The choice gelling agent is gelatin, a reversible gel which melts below the body temperature. An improvement in the salt and flavor release is possible if the process is optimized to produce an inverted (water-in-oil) product with some levels of the added proteins.
Fat continuous products wherein the aqueous phase contains a gelling agent and is gel forming are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,915 (Cain et al). The gelling agents are selected from a gelling hydrolyzed starch derivative, gelatin, carrageenan and mixtures thereof. The hydrolyzed starch is generally defined as a gelling maltodextrin. Non-gelling starches are also described as present in the aqueous phase as bulking agents or viscosity enhancers. The process involves inverting the emulsion at colder temperatures &lt;20.degree. C.
Bodor et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,103,037) describes fat continuous products which also contain gelling agents, such as gelatin and Danish agar, in the aqueous phase. Bodor teaches that the type of gelling agent used in low fat continuous spread is critical since most gelling agents that can assist in the stabilization of the emulsions have too high a melting point and give a gluey unpleasant impression when chewed. The process involves inverting the emulsion at colder temperatures &lt;20.degree. C.
Bodor et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,554,407) uses a process of cold mixing to process a water continuous emulsion to a fat continuous emulsion. The cold mixing of a fat continuous phase with an aqueous phase at &lt;26.degree. C. is taught in this patent.
Thus the above teaches us the inversion process where the emulsion is cooled prior to inverting a water continuous emulsion to a fat continuous emulsion and processed further resulting in finished spread which is fat continuous.